Fintech Startup ChqBook Plans to Expand to the Top 10 Cities in the Country This Year
Loans as a category is a $90 billion industry in India and is growing at a 12–15% CAGR YoY. Out of this, only about 2–3% of total loans and cards happen online but this number is doubling each year – with projections for it to reach approx. 15–18% in the next 5 years. This presents a very large opportunity and a very large market built on choice, convenience and expert guidance.
ChqBook is the newest kid on the 20 lakh company strong FinTech block, launched on 26th January, 2017. It is a financial service provider offering retail loans and credit cards at the lowest interest rates in the market, with a unique model connecting customers to verified ChqBook experts. Using a combination of algorithms and machine learning technology, ChqBook matches customers to the loan option best suited to their needs.
This listing available on their website includes over 20+ banks, which cover 80% of the Indian financial market. Interest rates are offered at the lowest rates possible, starting at 8.35%. With highly competent experts and efficient Door Step Services, ChqBook ensures a seamless customer experience for each user.
While speaking about the unique key features of ChqBook, the startup founding team told BW Disrupt, “We are the first full service financial service providers in the country. We track each case from the time the customer is interested till he gets the product – either a Home Loan, or a Credit Card or Personal Loans. We reduce friction in the process by removing the requirement of the customer to upload documents (painful) and bringing in our Experts to complete documentation, answer all questions and take the product with complete peace of mind and minimal customer involvement.”
Commenting on the ChqBook’s differentiation factors, they added, “Existing competitors only pass on the leads to the banks and struggle with feedback on the cases and are often unable to provide real time updates on the case to the customer. We feel that needs to change. Customers should be able to trust and get information about their loan or credit card process directly from the place they applied for it – and ChqBook is the first one to be able to do that. We also ensure that wherever possible, we give the customer an instant approval. For Credit cards, our model is only based on an instant approval from the bank of the customer’s choice – ensuring the customer doesn’t have to shop around and wait on feedback on his application.”
ChqBook aims to be the first full service financial service provider in the country - bringing unprecedented choice, a clutter free and neutral comparison engine and magical customer service - so that the customer can focus on what he wants to do with the funds or the card, and not have to worry about delays, incessant calls or rejections.
ChqBook is the brainchild of Vipul Sharma and Rajat Kumar, former bankers with decades of experience in the Banking & Financial Services Industry. Rajat and Vipul felt that existing platforms providing options from different financial institutions did not take the customer through the entire journey - instead, they only connected the customer to the bank - leaving the rest of the buying process out of their hands. They thought that just like ecommerce where success lies in delivery of goods and service, in financial services also, the actual disbursement of issuance of a credit card needs to be tracked and delivered to the customer - hence the model allows customers to choose, check their eligibility, and apply. ChqBook then tracks and ensures each customer's requirement is met and tracked through the entire process post application.
ChqBook brings verified, experienced experts from the financial industry who gets to know the customers over a cup of coffee and are keen to build long term relationships with the customer. They will ensure the customer gets the product he wants with very less involvement of the customers, while ChqBook monitors the entire process over a 100+ different parameters. Only committed, experienced & mature experts are on-boarded, ensuring a hassle free and; what they like to call - a magical customer service experience.
The startup has raised angel funding from a clutch of investors including Youwecan backed Startup Buddy, Apurva Chamaria, global head of corporate marketing, HCL, Sachin Arora, ex-CTO Myntra, Bharat Gupta, Founder of Net Asset Consulting LLP, Amit Manocha, Private equity professional based out of Singapore, and others. The founders have also invested money in the company.
“Our monetization model is simple – we charge the Experts for the leads created on our platform. This ensures the ChqBook Expert has a skin in the game and puts his best foot forward. In the case of Credit Cards, where we are tying up directly with the Banks for an Instant approval, we charge the Banks directly,” the startup stated.
ChqBook has revenues in excess of 3-5 lakhs per month and aims to increase that to 10-15 lakhs per month in the current financial year. ChqBook has processed over 200+ crores of Home Loans since its launch just 6 months ago, and aims to close the year with over 1000+ crores of Home Loans.
